


5 People Who Figured It Out Before Ferdinand Did

by hashtag_anthems



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: 5+1 Fic, M/M, ferdinand is very slow, just some dorks in love and one of them doesn’t realize it, some mentions of doropetra and casphardt, until he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 18:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21061121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtag_anthems/pseuds/hashtag_anthems
Summary: And the time he finally figured it out





	5 People Who Figured It Out Before Ferdinand Did

**Author's Note:**

> thanks again for beta reading this MidoriMint.

_Marianne_

“I cannot believe him. He is no better than a puppet, and yet he dares to lecture _me_ on my conduct? The fact that I choose my actions at all, rather than letting some princess dictate them all to me, already sets me apart from him for the better. If everyone did as he insisted, the entire empire would be nothing more than a dull, stagnant — ”

Ferdinand was interrupted by the stable door slamming closed and a yell from a few stalls down. He had not been aware that anyone else was here. Oh dear.

“Hello?” Maybe it had been a startled horse…

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” A head popped up from behind the half-walls dividing each stall from the others. Ah, it was Marianne. She could be as skilled as Bernadetta when it came to hiding sometimes.

“No, I should have anticipated meeting you here.” Marianne spent much of her free time here, taking care of her horse, so Ferdinand should have checked to ensure he was alone before going off on such a rant. “I should apologize to you. I am sure you did not count on hearing such an… unbecoming display.”

“I come here to talk to Dorte often. I can’t blame you for doing the same. Horses are excellent listeners.” Marianne patted her horse — Dorte, she had called it? — on the head. “If you’re looking for advice, though, they aren’t very vocal in return…”

“That is true,” Ferdinand agreed, grinning at his own horse. A fine mount, but not a proper conversationalist.

“If I may ask… You were talking about Hubert, weren’t you?”

“Was it so obvious?”

“Hilda told us about your fight as soon as it happened. She was quite excited to be the one to share the details with us.”

“Well, I would not call it a fight, per se. Perhaps a disagreement…”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I had only heard…”

“Do not blame yourself. We simply… do not see eye-to-eye on… certain topics.” He had to choose his words carefully, if the school was already gossiping about them. He did not want to worsen the matter.

“So I heard.” Marianne was smiling to herself as she brushed through Dorte’s mane. So it seemed things were already worse without his intervention…

“You say that as though you’re getting ideas about the matter.”

“You just seem awfully concerned about his opinion. That’s all.”

“Because he is wrong! Dangerously so, for an advisor to the future emperor. I am simply concerned for the future of the Empire if someone does not talk some sense into him.”

“Right.”

“I swear, there is nothing else to it.”

“Of course.” Marianne held out a treat for Dorte. When he had eaten it, she dusted off her hands and said, “I’ll leave you to continue talking things out with yourself, then.”

~~~~~

_Caspar_

“Ferdinand, are you even paying attention?”

“What?” Ferdinand would admit that his attention had drifted.

“Are you still thinking about that fight with Hubert?” Caspar was leaning on his axe, which would have been funny under any other circumstances. The axe was as tall as Caspar was, so he had to stand on his toes just to reach the end of the handle to lean on it. As it stood, Ferdinand was too preoccupied to appreciate the comedy of the situation.

“No, I am thinking about how he’s determined to make a complete fool out of me.” As an aside to himself, he added, “Good to know how quickly word travels around here…”

“Hilda has a newsletter going. Apparently Sylvain got — ”

“He only expressly went against Edelgard’s wishes when he could blame me for giving him the idea! He obviously has it out for me, all because I dared to challenge his delusions — ”

“Wait, slow down,” Caspar interrupted him. “What did he do?”

“What he did or does is not of any importance.”

“Hilda’s paying for material, so yes, it is important. Come on, give me some details.”

“No!” Ferdinand dropped his own axe on the ground and considered sweeping Caspar’s out from under him just to get that smug grin off of his face. He was getting that look from a lot of people lately, and he did not like it. Practice was already derailed past the point of recovery, so the only harm would be to his image.

“Oh, I see.” The way his grin went from smug to downright crafty sparked a new sense of distrust towards Caspar in Ferdinand. “Your refusal speaks volumes, you know.”

“You have been spending too much time with Linhardt, reading into things that do not merit your attention,” Ferdinand sighed.

“You have a chance to get back at him here. You aren’t taking it, so there’s got to be something going on.”

“I simply refuse to sink to his level.”

“Mhmm. Right.”

“You are beyond hope.”

~~~~~

_Flayn_

“Careful with that.” Once Flayn was safely out of harm’s way, Ferdinand pointed out the sharp edge on his armor that she had nearly sliced open her hand on. “Seteth would kill me if you came to any harm on my watch.”

“Oh, how noble of you,” Flayn chuckled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you must have some ulterior motive.”

“I understand that Sylvain and I share our hair color, but I would expect you to be capable of telling us apart.” Ferdinand ran the cloth in his hand over his chest plate. Professor wanted him to focus on heavy armor recently, which was all well and good, but it meant more armor to clean and maintain. Every time he brought it out to the courtyard to clean, though, it was like a beacon went off to summon Flayn to him. Her conversation did make the chore less tedious, so he appreciated the company, no matter how strange the source.

“Oh, do not worry. I can see that you’re spoken for,” Flayn giggled.

Ferdinand froze as her comment registered. “What are you talking about?” As though he did not know what she was talking about. It was all that anyone was talking about. Curse Hilda and that damned gossip rag she was managing.

“Practically the whole school knows.” Flayn leaned in closer. “Are you telling me that you don’t know yet?”

“Whatever you are alluding to is news to me.”

“Interesting…” Flayn hummed to herself with a grin far too sly to suit her.

“If this is about myself and Hubert, then Hilda and her little newsletter know nothing. We are simply… trying to put aside our differences for the good of our house. We have more important matters to address than a personal feud.” And it was true. Edelgard was getting more serious since the last mock battle. It had not ended _badly_, so much as it could have gone better.

“It sounds like you two have done more than simply set aside your differences…”

“I do not like what you are implying.”

“Do I smell… coffee?”

“You do not.” Ferdinand made a shooting motion in Flayn’s general direction. “Go gossip with someone else before I inform your brother of your involvement in this whole nonsensical affair.” It was well-known that Seteth was trying to get the whole thing stamped out before his precious sister was caught up in it.

“Flayn was smiling nonetheless when she rolled her eyes and left him to his armor and his thoughts.”

~~~~~

_Manuela_

“It’s been a while since I’ve had you all alone like this…”

“I am merely here to deliver some supplies,” Ferdinand explained.

“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t go after taken men, even if they _did_ age impeccably in the past five years.” With a wink, Manuela stepped aside to let Ferdinand into the infirmary with his delivery.

“I am flattered, but — what do you mean, ‘taken?’”

“You don’t have to keep it a secret. I’ve had my own fair share of trysts with pretty songstresses, you know. No judgement here.” Manuela winked at him again — was she drunk? She always winked more when she had been drinking — and did nothing to clear his confusion.

“No, I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Ferdinand, it’s been five years and it’s still as clear as day. The sooner you accept it yourself, the better.” Five years…?

“Are people _still_ on about Hubert and me?”

“Are you saying that there’s something for people to be on about?”

“No! There never was! I could not even stand the guy for most of our time in school. It was all baseless gossip from people with nothing better to fill their time.”

“You should watch your caffeine intake dear.” Manuela patted him on the cheek. “Too much coffee isn’t good for you. Makes you jittery, irritable even, and you’re much too handsome to be so grumpy. Maybe switch back to tea, doctor’s orders.”

“I never switched _from_ tea!”

“Mhmm.”

~~~~~

_Hubert_

“Lady Edelgard, if I may ask you something…?”

“Of course.”

“I understand why you encouraged it during our time at the Officer’s Academy, but… is there a reason you’re still facilitating the spread of that story that Ferdinand has an interest in me?” As a diversionary tactic, it had worked wonders, but Hubert couldn’t figure out why Lady Edelgard would keep it up in the present.

“I wasn’t aware that I was…” Lady Edelgard mused… “What brought you to that conclusion?”

“He’s made himself tolerable, and just the other day he actually presented me with a gift, unprompted. Everyone is discussing it. I just don’t see the advantage to such a distraction any longer.” And those were just what Hubert could list without notice. Given time to think back, he could surely come up with more.

“I had nothing to do with that, but is _that_ why I saw him drinking my tea the other day?”

“Apologies, Lady Edelgard. I did not know how to respond to his gift other than with one of my own.”

“But I suppose the answer to your question is that I have nothing to do with Ferdinand’s recent behavior.”

The silence that hung between them was like a loaded weapon, and Hubert felt a similar pain to being shot when he finally realized the point Lady Edelgard was trying to make.

“_Oh._”

“If it makes a difference to you, I support it.”

~~~~~

_Ferdinand_

“I will have coffee.”

“Are you well?”

“What can I say? It has grown on me.”

Ferdinand still had to mix an inordinate amount of sugar and cream into his coffee to make it palatable, but there was something about it that appealed to him more and more these days.

“Are you sure the coffee is what’s grown on you?”

“Oh, not you too…” Ferdinand had been enjoying these weekly brunches with Dorothea specifically because she didn’t meddle in his love life.

“Ferdie, I say this only because I care about you, but even Caspar figured it out. Caspar. The same Caspar that had to ask me if I thought Linhardt had feelings for him. _After_ they had already eloped.” Dorothea leaned forward with her arms crossed and fixed him with that no-nonsense stare she had. “If you don’t figure it out soon, I’m taking you to get your head examined. Or maybe removed from your — ”

“There is nothing to figure out!” Ferdinand interrupted. “I simply find him tolerable now that we’ve both had opportunity to grow and mature a bit. He possesses some unique insights that I would otherwise never consider, and the challenge to my own opinions can be refreshing. He makes a pretty good drink. He is a formidable mage, and I can respect the way that he uses his skills on the battlefield, as different from my own as they may be. We share stories and experiences over tea or coffee, and we occasionally exchange gifts. That does not mean…”

“Doesn’t mean…?”

It did not mean…

“Ferdie?”

Didn’t mean…

“Well, alright then, maybe we _are_ going to visit Manuela today…”

“I have feelings for Hubert.”

Something glass was shattered, and Caspar let out a cheer. Bernadetta shrieked something about the world’s end. Petra said that Linhardt owed her a drink, and Linhardt contested it on the grounds that Petra had cheated by having her wife coax the confession out. Was everyone here today? Of all the days?

“It’s about time.” A hand clamped down on Ferdinand’s shoulder. He would recognize that smell anywhere, which did not bode well. Herbal, with a bit of a chemical undertone, and yet warm like the coffee houses they frequented now that the war had met its end. “I was beginning to worry you would never figure it out.”

“I…” Ferdinand’s hope of constructing a coherent sentence was lost in the crowd of their friends asking when the wedding would be. Even Edelgard was present to chime in with an offer of the royal gardens, should they have trouble finding a suitable venue.

“Come on, you owe me a proper date after making me wait this long.” Hubert pulled Ferdinand out of his seat and away from the crowd to a chorus of crude comments. “So, what finally tipped you off?”

“I hate coffee.”

“Really?”

“I hate coffee, but I love our coffee… dates.” It felt strange to call them that, but looking back, that was what they were… “Why, were you betting too?”

“I… may have made a wager with Lady Edelgard.”

“I have changed my mind. I no longer want to…”

“You were saying?” Hubert was smirking when he pulled back. Ferdinand could not help but bring his hand up to the tingling spot on his cheek. That was a dirty trick, kissing him when his head was still spinning from the revelation that Ferdinand Von Aegir did, in fact, love Hubert Von Vestra.

But, if he was honest, he was glad that he had finally figured it out. It gave him an excuse to kiss Hubert back.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on Twitter @hashtaganthems and on tumblr @hashtag-anthems


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